Report: State can boost opportunity, combat inequality by expanding taxes

A historically large share of the nation’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few, reducing opportunities for millions of Americans and reinforcing barriers that make it harder for people of color to make gains.

These inequities are made worse by most state tax systems – including New Mexico’s. By designing better tax policy, state lawmakers can help spread opportunity more widely and build more broadly shared prosperity.

Among the solutions on state policymakers’ lists should be expanding the taxation of assets of the very wealthy, since loopholes and other special benefits currently shield much...

To prevent and stop violence against women, men in all 50 states of the USA need to stand up and speak out.

Mothers, sisters and daughters are victims of domestic violence. Wives, live-in partners, and girlfriends are victims of domestic violence. Relatives are victims of domestic violence. Neighbors are victims of domestic violence. Teenagers are victims of dating violence. Children are victims of family violence.

Throughout history it’s been women at the forefront for change at the grassroots level and at our nation’s capital as they marched for the courts to pass laws to intervene in family violence. Women marched for law enforcement to enforce the laws. And women are still...

ALBUQUERQUE — Governor-elect Michelle Lujan-Grisham should quash serious cuts to New Mexico’s Medicaid program faces in the Centennial Care 2.0 waiver approved Dec. 14 by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The cuts, proposed by the Human Services Department under the Susana Martinez administration, would hurt families and violate federal law according to the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.

HSD’s Centennial Care 2.0 waiver proposal asked the federal government for permission to increase New Mexico’s Medicaid premiums and cut retroactive coverage. The cuts are scheduled to roll out in 2019 over a series of months.

“No one should have to choose...

I arrived at my favorite eatery for seasonal cinnamon pancakes with cream cheese frosting. Yum. As I started to enjoy the tantalizing taste on my tongue, a middle-aged couple seated at the next table blabbed on and on about weight loss and dieting. Blah. Blah. Blah. “Stop already!” I wanted to shout.

Journalist Gina Kolata penned a 2018 article for the New York Times where she surmised, “You’d think that scientists at an international conference on obesity would know by now which diet is best, and why. As it turns out, even the experts still have widely divergent opinions.”

On Nov. 14, an international scientific conference featuring world-renowned experts in the field of...